Antiresorptive treatment options and bone health in cancer patients—safety profiles and clinical considerations

Antiresorptive therapies are the standard of care for maintaining bone health in patients with advanced cancers involving bone. In the absence of antiresorptive therapies, many patients with bone metastases from solid tumors will experience potentially debilitating skeletal-related events. Furthermore, older age is associated with decreased bone integrity both in female and male patients and also with increased risk for malignancies, such as breast and prostate cancer, which have a high risk of metastasis to bone. Although antiresorptive therapies are generally well tolerated, there have been reports of associated serious adverse events. Hypocalcemia, osteonecrosis of the jaw, renal events, and acute-phase reactions have been reported in patients with cancer receiving all types of antiresorptive therapies. Because the clinical indications of antiresorptive agents continue to expand, and new options are becoming available, it is important for clinicians to recognize adverse events so that they may be prevented or properly treated and managed. Moreover, the risk–benefit profiles of those agents must be considered on a per-patient basis.